Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries
Abstract Background Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production mechanism that leverages the collective intelligence of non-expert individuals and networked communities for specific goals. Social innovation (SI) initiatives aim to address health challenges in a sustainable manner,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Infectious Diseases of Poverty |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40249-020-00751-x |
| _version_ | 1818878922251567104 |
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| author | Lindi van Niekerk Arturo Ongkeko Rachel Alice Hounsell Barwani Khaura Msiska Don Pascal Mathanga Josselyn Mothe Noel Juban Phyllis Awor Dina Balabanova |
| author_facet | Lindi van Niekerk Arturo Ongkeko Rachel Alice Hounsell Barwani Khaura Msiska Don Pascal Mathanga Josselyn Mothe Noel Juban Phyllis Awor Dina Balabanova |
| author_sort | Lindi van Niekerk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production mechanism that leverages the collective intelligence of non-expert individuals and networked communities for specific goals. Social innovation (SI) initiatives aim to address health challenges in a sustainable manner, with a potential to strengthen health systems. They are developed by actors from different backgrounds and disciplines. This paper describes the application of crowdsourcing as a research method to explore SI initiatives in health. Methods The study explored crowdsourcing as a method to identify SI initiatives implemented in Africa, Asia and Latin America. While crowdsourcing has been used in high-income country settings, there is limited knowledge on its use, benefits and challenges in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. From 2014 to 2018, six crowdsourcing contests were conducted at global, regional and national levels. Results A total of 305 eligible projects were identified; of these 38 SI initiatives in health were identified. We describe the process used to perform a crowdsourcing contest for SI, the outcome of the contests, and the challenges and opportunities when using this mechanism in LMICs. Conclusions We demonstrate that crowdsourcing is a participatory method, that is able to identify bottom-up or grassroots SI initiatives developed by non-traditional actors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:21:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6cd68445aa2e46f48896ca299b402e08 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-9957 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:21:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Infectious Diseases of Poverty |
| spelling | doaj.art-6cd68445aa2e46f48896ca299b402e082022-12-21T20:17:45ZengBMCInfectious Diseases of Poverty2049-99572020-10-019111210.1186/s40249-020-00751-xCrowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countriesLindi van Niekerk0Arturo Ongkeko1Rachel Alice Hounsell2Barwani Khaura Msiska3Don Pascal Mathanga4Josselyn Mothe5Noel Juban6Phyllis Awor7Dina Balabanova8Graduate School of Business, University of Cape TownCollege of Medicine / National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines ManilaGraduate School of Business, University of Cape TownCollege of Medicine, University of MalawiCollege of Medicine, University of MalawiCentro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Medicas (CIDEIM)College of Medicine / National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines ManilaSchool of Public Health, Makerere UniversityLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineAbstract Background Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production mechanism that leverages the collective intelligence of non-expert individuals and networked communities for specific goals. Social innovation (SI) initiatives aim to address health challenges in a sustainable manner, with a potential to strengthen health systems. They are developed by actors from different backgrounds and disciplines. This paper describes the application of crowdsourcing as a research method to explore SI initiatives in health. Methods The study explored crowdsourcing as a method to identify SI initiatives implemented in Africa, Asia and Latin America. While crowdsourcing has been used in high-income country settings, there is limited knowledge on its use, benefits and challenges in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. From 2014 to 2018, six crowdsourcing contests were conducted at global, regional and national levels. Results A total of 305 eligible projects were identified; of these 38 SI initiatives in health were identified. We describe the process used to perform a crowdsourcing contest for SI, the outcome of the contests, and the challenges and opportunities when using this mechanism in LMICs. Conclusions We demonstrate that crowdsourcing is a participatory method, that is able to identify bottom-up or grassroots SI initiatives developed by non-traditional actors.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40249-020-00751-xSocial innovationHealthCrowdsourcingGrassroots initiativesParticipatory research |
| spellingShingle | Lindi van Niekerk Arturo Ongkeko Rachel Alice Hounsell Barwani Khaura Msiska Don Pascal Mathanga Josselyn Mothe Noel Juban Phyllis Awor Dina Balabanova Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries Infectious Diseases of Poverty Social innovation Health Crowdsourcing Grassroots initiatives Participatory research |
| title | Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries |
| title_full | Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries |
| title_fullStr | Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries |
| title_short | Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middle-income countries |
| title_sort | crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low and middle income countries |
| topic | Social innovation Health Crowdsourcing Grassroots initiatives Participatory research |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40249-020-00751-x |
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